Ima's Birthday
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Tony takes the kids shopping for Ziva's birthday presents and plans a surprise dinner with the extended family. Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.
1. Shopping for Ima

Ima's Birthday

 _Tony takes the five kids shopping for their Ima's birthday presents. November 2024._

Chapter 1: Shopping for Ima; 9 November

"First stop is the jewelers' store so I can pick up my present for Ima," Tony informed his five kids. "Then we will shop for your presents for her."

"Can we see what you bought for her? Please?" Beth and Rivka wanted to see the present, especially since they figured out that Abba would be buying jewelry. Tony nodded as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Remember to look with your eyes and leave your hands in your pockets!" All five kids smiled at their Abba at his usual request when they entered a store. They followed him into the store and to the counter.

"How may I help you, sir?" The young woman behind the counter greeted Tony and looked at the five kids standing with him. She thought it sweet that a grandfather would bring his grandchildren shopping.

"I'm here to pick up a custom order for Tony DiNozzo," The salesperson looked in her computer and went to the back room. She returned with a small box and opened it to show Tony for his inspection.

"I hope this is to your liking, sir," she said as she handed him the ring. He looked it over and nodded, then held it for the kids to see. The ring had the seven first names of the DiNozzo family on bands that appeared to be interwoven. Beside each name was a colored stone. The final band had their last name.

"I see my name, Abba!" Anthony looked at all the names on the ring. "Why are the stones different colors?"

"They are birthstones, silly," Tali answered her brother's question. "See you and I have the same color stone? That's because we both were born in June. So do Riv and Beth, for February. Abba, I think Ima will really like that ring. What is the last stone by our last name?"

Tony grinned at his oldest, "January birthstone for the month we were married, Tals. Do you really think Ima will like it?" All of the children grinned and nodded.

"Ima will like it just because it is from you, Abba," Anthony thought the ring looked as special as his Ima. He knew she would have tears in her eyes when Abba gave it to her and then she would kiss - yuck! - Abba lots.

"Ima will be forty five years old this year," Tali informed her siblings.

LJ thought a minute and then exclaimed, "Wow, that's OLD!" Tony suppressed a grin at his youngest's comment.

"Well, Abba is fifty six, so what does that make him?" Tali shot a quick glance at her Abba.

"VERY OLD!" LJ grinned. The salesperson, who looked about twenty five to Tony, snickered. She tried not to let Tony see her reaction, especially since her first impression was obviously off the mark. This was a father with his children!

"Hey! I am not **that** old, Grandpa is old, not me and Ima," Tony turned to the kids. They all grinned back at him; he saw his own goofy grin times five. God, he loved these kiddos of his; they were the second best thing to happen in his life. His love, his ninja, his soulmate was hands down the best thing ever in his fifty six plus years of life.

Tony finished his transaction with the salesclerk and led the children out to the family van. "Now to the mall so you can all pick out a gift for Ima." Tony, Tali and Anthony helped the three younger kids with their car seats and then buckled themselves in.

At the mall, all of the kids wanted to get ice cream at the food court. The family headed to get the frozen confection first. Each child got a single scoop cone and Tony got a single scoop dish. LJ finished his cone first and tried to steal some of Tony's ice cream. "Abba, are you going to eat all that ice cream?" LJ made puppy eyes at his father. "Chocolate is my favorite!" He grinned at his Abba, hoping to get the rest of the dish to finish.

Anthony took a bite of his cone, "LJ, if you didn't gobble up your own ice cream, you could enjoy it more." His favorite flavor was also chocolate. "Eat it slowly and enjoy every bite, that's what Aunt Abby says."

Beth looked up from her strawberry ice cream and nodded, "Aunt Abby is very smart, LJ. You should listen and do what she says." Rivka agreed with her twin, her mouth full of her own favorite, chocolate chocolate chip.

Tali finished her mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Remember that Ima said that you should eat your ice cream slower, LJ, so that you don't get an upset stomach."

"But ice cream is my favorite food," LJ protested. "I can't eat it slow!" He eyed his Abba's dish of ice cream, watching every bite taken. Tony tried his best to ignore the puppy eyes and looks from his youngest. He finally gave in and handed the last few bites to the boy. "Toda, and grazi, Abba!"

"Let's finish up, so we can get this shopping done," Tony reminded his kids. "Have you thought about what you want to give Ima for her birthday?"

"Ice cream," LJ grinned at his Abba.

Tony grinned back at the little boy, "We will have ice cream at the party, LJ."

"I want to get earrings for Ima," Anthony knew how much his mother liked earrings. "Some pretty ones with stones that shine."

Beth and Rivka thought a few minutes. "How about some fuzzy slippers and a warm bath robe?" Beth didn't tell the others her ulterior motive; she liked to cuddle with Ima when Ima wore her fuzzy robe. Rivka nodded her agreement to her twin's suggestion.

Tali looked to her father, "Abba, are we getting one gift from all of us together or each getting a gift for Ima separately?"

"It's up to you all," Tony replied. "You can get one gift from all of you or a gift from each."

"I think we should each get at present for Ima," Rivka spoke up. "That way she will have five presents to open instead of just one present." The others agreed quickly and Tony led them to the jewelry store in the mall.

Anthony spotted a pair of sterling silver, crystal, and garnet earrings with the stones set into heart shapes that dangled from little chains that were attached to small hoops. He pointed to the earrings in the display case and told his Abba that was what he wanted to get for Ima. LJ spotted a matching bracelet in the case and asked if he could get the bracelet for Ima. Tony nodded and motioned for the clerk.

She came over to the family. Tony let Anthony and LJ tell her what they wanted. Anthony pointed to the earrings he had picked, "I want to get those for my Ima."

"I want to get this bracelet," LJ pointed to the matching bracelet. The clerk looked to Tony who nodded. She took the items out of the display and put them on the counter for Tony to inspect. He picked up each one, showing them to Anthony and LJ. Both boys nodded and grinned.

"We'll take both, please. Would you wrap them separately? Thanks," Tony handed the clerk his debit card and herded the kids to towards the cash register. At the register, the clerk let LJ and Anthony pick out wrapping paper for their gifts and then wrapped each one. She put the wrapped packages into separate bags and handed one to each boy.

"I hope your mom has a happy birthday," she smiled at the two. She could tell they were brothers from their looks and when both boys grinned at her, she saw their father's grin. "She's so lucky to have such good looking and loving sons!"

The next stop was a department store so that Rivka and Beth could pick out slippers and a robe for their mother. Beth wanted to get a red robe for her Ima, but she didn't find any red robes that were fuzzy. She and Rivka agreed on blue as the color and found a blue fleece robe and matching slippers. Tony paid the sales clerk and then took the items to be gift-wrapped at the service counter. He let the twins pick out the wrapping paper and each girl left with a present for Ima.

"Okay, Tals," Tony looked at his oldest, "What do you want to get for Ima? You're the last one."

Tali shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, Abba. I am trying to think of something special for Ima, but my brain won't cooperate!"

Tony led the children to the indoor play area and had them place their bags on a bench while they played. The four younger kids headed for the slide, which spiraled down from about ten feet up. Tali sat next to her Abba. "I need some ideas, Abba. Do you have any?"

"Jewelry? A book? A scarf?" Tony suggested and Tali shook her head no to each of his ideas. "Do you know of anything she wants?"

"Only the expensive mixer that you are getting her for Christmas," Tali had been with her Ima when Ziva spotted the mixer. She had made a note to let her Abba know about how much Ima wanted it. She suspected that Ima had deliberately made a big deal about the mixer so that Tali would tell Abba. "I can't get her any accessory for it without giving away your surprise for Christmas…"

Tali wracked her brain; what would Ima be surprised with as a birthday present? Her siblings had picked good presents for them to give Ima, but Tali wanted something special and something that was uniquely her. Abba's suggestions had been good ones, but not what struck a chord with Tali.

She looked around at the stores surrounding the play are. She told Abba where she was going and wandered over to the store directory. Maybe one of the stores would give her an idea. After reading the list of stores, she decided to ask Abba to go to the bookstores. Maybe she could find a book for Ima or buy her a gift card for one of the bookstores.

"Abba, let's go to the bookstores, please. I have an idea," Tali walked back over to her father. He called out to the other four and they took one last turn on the slide each.

As they were walking to the first bookstore, Tali spotted the knives in a display window. Tony followed her gaze and nodded to himself. Like mother, like daughter. Tali's fascination with knives was on a par with her Ima's love of the metal blades.

Tali turned, "Abba, may we go look in the knife store? Maybe I can find a knife for Ima." Tony nodded, and the others followed Tali to the display windows. LJ was just starting to be interested in knives, but the other three could take them or leave them. Anthony much preferred anything basketball related, while the twins were more interested in nature and animals than knives.

Tali looked over the displays. She spotted a shiny steel knife with an engraved hilt with red and yellow stones. The picture was a mother and child looking at each other with an engraved heart with the stones in the middle. "Abba! That one is perfect!" She pointed out the knife to her father, hoping he would agree.

"Let's go look at it, Tals," Tony led the family into the knife store and asked to see the mother and child knife. The clerk placed it on the counter and Tali sighed. Tony smiled to himself; his oldest was truly Ziva's mini-me.

"We can customize the stones if you need," the clerk suggested. "We can also add stones, up to six total."

Tali shook her head, "No, the stones are perfect as they are. Abba?" She looked at her Abba, hoping he would say okay to purchase the knife for Ima.

Tony checked the price tag; it was a bit more than he had expected to spend, but Tali's heart seemed set on getting the knife for her Ima. "Okay, we'll take it. Do you gift wrap purchases?"

"Yes, sir. Do you want to choose a wrapping paper?" Tony motioned for Tali to make her choice of paper. She picked the black paper with silver and gold stars and grinned at Abba.

"Ima will be very surprised!"

The transaction was completed and the box wrapped. The clerk handed the bag to Tali. Tony made sure each child had his or her bag and they headed to the parking lot. All of the children were excited that each had found what he or she thought was the perfect gift for Ima. They started arguing about whose gift should be opened first and the noise level rose significantly.

Tony whistled, "Hey; enough with the arguing. Ima will open all of the presents and we will put them where **she** can choose the order to open them.

"When we get home, we'll leave the packages in the back of the van. That way Ima won't know that we have any gifts for her. I will put them all in the garage later tonight."

Anthony got a laugh from everyone when he commented, "You know Ima will find them no matter what."

"True," Tony thought a minute. "Let's hide them at Grandpa's house!"


	2. Happy Birthday Ima!

Chapter 2: Happy Birthday, Ima; 11 November

The family celebrated Ziva's birthday on Monday 11 November since they all had the Federal holiday off. They spent a good part of the day in the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian. Ziva had chosen the destination for the family outing. Tony drove to the Metro Station and they used the train to get to the museum.

Anthony and Tony spent much of their time at the museum wandering in the television and entertainment displays. LJ was fascinated by the interactive exhibits; all of the children went to the two interactive rooms multiple times. Tali and her sisters spent much of their time in the period costumes, music and art related exhibits. Ziva traded off with Tony on which children each watched over.

About an hour before closing, Tony reminded the family that they planned to leave at 1700 and catch a train back to the station where they left the van. When LJ groaned, Tony reminded him about the birthday cake and ice cream at home. He grinned at his Abba, "ICE CREAM, and presents!"

Ziva smiled at her little boy; LJ would eat ice cream any time they would let him. His favorite food was ice cream and Grandpa Gibbs often indulged his youngest grandchild. "Ima, we have lots of presents for you," LJ informed his mother. The other children shushed their little brother, reminding him that the gifts were supposed to be surprises for Ima.

"Okay," LJ skipped to the doors to go to the Metro station, "My brain just got too excited for Ima's presents to keep it inside." Tony shared a grin with Ziva; LJ had some of the most creative ways to explain things. They always enjoyed his reasoning, often trying not to laugh out loud.

The family rode the Metro to their station and as they arrived at the station, Tony sent a text to Gibbs that they were on the way home to change clothes and then head to the restaurant where he had dinner reservations. Tali sent text messages to Aunt Breena, Aunt Delilah and Aunt Abby. Gibbs replied to Tony that he had the presents and cake at the DiNozzo house for later.

When Tony pulled into the driveway, he reminded the kids that they had thirty minutes to get dressed for dinner. He turned to Ziva, "Thirty minutes enough for you to get ready for dinner out?"

Ziva nodded, "Where are we going?"

Before Tony could reply, the children answered together, "It's a SURPRISE, Ima!"

Gibbs was already at the house and dressed for dinner. He would be driving the family minivan with the kids and Tony would be taking Ziva in his truck. The plan was for Gibbs to leave before Tony and Ziva so that he could help make sure everyone invited to dinner was at the restaurant before Tony brought Ziva inside.

Anthony helped LJ get dressed, especially with tucking in his dress shirt and making sure his tie was straight. Tali zipped up her sisters' dresses and they in turn helped her with the zipper on her dress. The five went together to find Grandpa. "We're ready, Grandpa," Tali spoke for her siblings and herself. "Should I let Abba know that we are leaving?"

Gibbs nodded and handed Tali his phone, "Text him." To the others, he motioned them to follow, "Let's go!" Tali sent the text to Abba and followed the others to the van.

As she stood in front of her closet, Ziva had asked Tony what the attire would be for the evening. "The boys are wearing ties and the girls are wearing dresses. I am going to wear a suit with a tie. That black dress by your left hand would be good." Tony loved looking at Ziva in that black dress that had just enough cling to her curves to show off her body and a low cut V-neck. "I think you should wear your infinity jewelry; it goes well with the dress."

Tony looked at his phone to see the message from Tali, via Gibbs' phone. "Gibbs and the kids are headed out. It's just you and me, Zi." He moved closer and snaked his arms around her waist nuzzling her neck. She purred into his embrace and leaned back against him. "If we didn't have others waiting for us to get to the restaurant, I would take advantage of the time alone," Tony whispered into her ear. He turned her to face him and locked his lips on hers. "Ani ohev otcha, Zi. Yom huledet sameach! Happy birthday!"

"Toda, Tony. Ani ohevet otach," Ziva pressed against her husband. "Let us go before we are distracted!" She smirked at him and patted his cheek; he returned the smile with one of his thousand watt grins, the ones saved only for her. "Quit tempting me, crazy man!" Ziva leaned against her lover.

Tony grinned again, "Now who's doing the tempting?" He released his embrace and took his wife's hand in his own. "Your chariot awaits, Princess Ziva. I am at your service." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled.

"I will remember that later tonight!"

At the restaurant, Ziva's favorite Italian restaurant, Tony parked the truck next to the family minivan. He had spotted the other family members' vehicles parked in other areas of the lot. He turned off the engine and looked at Ziva. She smiled at him and he was temporarily overwhelmed with the love he felt for her.

"What, Tony?" Ziva took his hand in hers.

"I… it's just… god, Zi, I love you so much. How did I deserve your love?" Tony pulled their joined hands to his lips and kissed Ziva's hand. He pulled her to him and fused his lips on hers. His stomach growled, and both laughed. "Let's get some food!"

Tony reached to the back seat and picked up a brown paper bag. He moved around to Ziva's door and pulled a corsage of yellow and red roses and carnations out of the bag. He pinned it on her dress, kissing her yet again. He held out his arm for her and led her to the entrance as she tucked her arm into his.

"DiNozzo birthday party," Tony told the hostess. She motioned for the couple to follow her. As they approached the private party room, Ziva could see her extended family inside.

Tony motioned for Ziva to enter first as the family yelled, "SURPRISE!" Ziva smiled as she looked around the table to see the extended family: Gibbs, her children, the McGee family, the Palmer family, Abby, Ellie and Clay, Leon Vance, Kayla, Nick, Jack, and Jimmy's new assistant, Kasie. The only one missing was Jared; he was in Germany.

Abby bounced over and wrapped Ziva in a hug, "Happy birthday, Ziva. I love you, sister!"

"Air, Abby! Toda," the family laughed as Ziva hugged Abby back. Everyone knew how Abby hugs almost literally squeezed the air out of the recipient. Tony led Ziva to her seat at the head of the table and then sat next to her.

The waiter for their room walked in to stand by Tony, "Are you ready for the food, sir?" Tony nodded and the wait staff started setting up the buffet table.

As the food was brought in, Tony tapped a spoon on his glass of water. The family looked in his direction. "Tonight we celebrate the forty fifth anniversary of the birth of my beautiful, incredible, sexy and wonderful wife, my soulmate, my forever." Tony picked up his wine glass, "To Ziva; happy, happy birthday and many more, my love!" He raised his glass as the family raised theirs. He put his glass down and pulled Ziva to him, kissing her with all the love he felt for his better half. He broke the kiss long enough to tell the family about the buffet meal.

"Enjoy the buffet of pizza, spaghetti, veal marsala, eggplant parmigiana, chicken saltimbocca, grilled veggies, and lasagna. The beverages, including wine, will be refilled as much as you want. And remember to save room for dessert of ice cream and cake back at the house afterward."

Tony pulled Ziva to him and kissed her once more, then led her to the buffet. She kissed him before picking up a plate to fill, "Toda, Tony; this looks wonderfully delicious!" She moved closer to him and whispered into his ear, "And so do you!" She locked gazes with her soulmate, their eyes speaking their love for the other.

"Come on, Ima! I'm hungry; you can kiss Abba later!" Anthony was behind his Abba and he was hungry. The family laughed and Ziva and Tony moved through the line, followed by the rest of the family. They all enjoyed the meal and the family fellowship. Most of the food was eaten and there were only two containers of food for Tony to take home, one of the eggplant parmigiana and a small container of lasagna.

The entire family headed back to the DiNozzo house after dinner. Gibbs started the coffee maker and Tony brought out dessert wines and soft drinks. LJ kept asking about the ice cream and cake. Tony reminded him that Ima had presents to open first and then they would have the cake. He had LJ and the other children follow him to the kitchen to carry the presents from them out for Ziva to open with the gifts from the extended family.

The kids put their wrapped packages on the coffee table in the family room with the other gifts. Tony kept the ring box in his pocket for last. Ziva started with the gifts from extended family. Abby had given Ziva a gift certificate to her favorite book store. Ziva hugged her sister and thanked her.

She opened the gift from the Vances next; she noticed Kayla grinning as she opened the box with a paisley scarf and scarf clip. "Toda; Kayla, did you pick this out?" The young woman grinned at Ziva and they shared a hug. Ziva hugged Leon as well.

The Palmers gave Ziva a new waterproof Bluetooth headset for running. From the McGees, Ziva got another bookstore gift card and an autographed copy of Tim's newest Gemcity novel, to be published the following month. Ellie and Clay gave her another bookstore gift card, as did Jack. Nick's gift was a music download gift card. Ziva thanked her family of the heart for the gifts and turned to the gifts from her children.

LJ nudged his gift towards his Ima, trying to get her to open his first. Tony noticed and quietly reminded the little boy that Ima would choose the order to open the gifts. He sighed and sat next to Ima, hoping she would choose his gift first.

Ziva had pity on her youngest and picked up his gift. When she unwrapped the beautiful bracelet, she smiled at LJ and hugged him before putting the bracelet on her wrist. "Toda, LJ. Ani ohevet otach, motek!" LJ grinned and signed 'I love you' to his Ima.

Ziva picked up the other small box, similarly wrapped as LJ's gift. Anthony grinned. Ziva opened the earrings from her oldest son and pulled the boy into a hug. "Toda, Anthony. I see they match the bracelet from LJ."

"I love you, Ima!" Anthony grinned at her as she put the earrings on for all to see.

The next gift Ziva chose to open was the big box from Beth. When she pulled out the blue robe, she put it on and Beth ran over and hugged Ima. "Happy birthday, Ima; I love you!"

"Toda, yaldati. Love you more, Beth."

Rivka grinned as Ima picked her present next. Ziva unwrapped the matching slippers to the robe and put them on her feet. "Thank you, Rivka. Ani ohevet otcha, yaldati."

Rivka hugged her Ima, "You're welcome, Ima. I love you too." Beth was right; hugging Ima in a fuzzy robe was really nice!

Tali grinned as Ima picked up the gift she bought. She was secretly glad her gift was the last one. Ziva opened the knife and gasped. "Tali, it is beautiful! Toda!" Tali hugged Ima and grinned at her Abba.

"Yom huledet sameach, Ima. Ani ohevet otcha." Ziva held up the knife for the family to see. Gibbs pulled Tali into a side hug.

"Ya done good, Tals," he said softly and Tali's grin got wider. Tony smiled at his oldest and her Grandpa. She and Gibbs had a special relationship; Gibbs would always have a special place in his heart for his oldest grandchild.

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled Ziva to her feet. "Zi, every day I remind myself how much I love you and how lucky I am that you chose me. Our family means the world to me. Yom huledet sameach, Ziva. Ani ohev otcha, my Ninja." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and then handed her the small box.

Ziva unwrapped the box carefully; she wanted to save the wrapping paper with the two blue bears and a heart on it. Only she and Tony knew the special meaning behind the bears. She opened the box slowly and started crying. "Oh, Tony. It is gorgeous. Toda, my love; toda raba." Tony took the box from her hand and removed the ring. He slipped onto her ring finger in her right hand. Ziva showed the ring to the others.

"Each day with you and our children is a gift that I treasure. I love you so much, Ziva." She reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek and locked her lips on his. The rest of the family looked away as the kiss lingered until Gibbs cleared his throat.

"I believe we have cake and ice cream for everyone," he said, motioning for the kids to help him bring the cake to the table. The family sang happy birthday to Ziva and LJ asked her if she needed help to blow out her candles. Everyone laughed as Ziva gave her youngest a look and then blew out all eight candles on the cake.

"Why eight candles?" Abby asked Tony.

"One for each of us…" Tony started to reply.

"And one for the family! I get it!" Abby gushed. "Like Ziva's ring!"

Tony and Ziva shared a gaze; only they knew the true significance of the eighth candle. They both would carry the love for their first child forever, taken from them before they had a chance to know him or her.

Their moment of reflection was cut short by Tali handing her mother a cake knife, "Make the first cut Ima so we can serve the cake!"

"And Grandpa can serve the ICE CREAM!" LJ added dancing in a circle around his Ima and Grandpa. "Yeah, ICE CREAM! Ima, you can have a birthday every day!"

* * *

 ** _A/N Happy birthday to Cote de Pablo!_**


End file.
